Ikuko SHIMIZU

Research Interest：

• Education & Migration, Education Equity and Inclusion (gender, disability, religion, ethnicity, out-of-school children), Education in Emergencies & Resilience Building, Youth/Adolescent Skills Development, Teacher Development, Education Sector Policy & Planning, Multi-sectoral & Community-based Approaches, Human-Centered Design, Design Thinking

Education：

• Master of Arts, International Educational Administration and Policy Analysis, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, USA (January 2001)
• Bachelor of Arts, International Development Studies, College of International Studies, University of Tsukuba, Japan (July 1999)

Experiences：

• Education Consultant, UNICEF (February 2026 – Present)
• SKY Labo, Teacher Training Lead (July 2024 – Present)
• Education Specialist (temporary assignments), UNICEF Niger, Mali and Benin (March 2024 – September 2025)
• Regional Education Specialist, UNICEF Regional Office for West & Central Africa (WCARO), Dakar, Senegal (November 2020 – November 2023)
• Education Manager, UNICEF Myanmar (December 2015 – November 2020)
• Chief of Education, a.i., UNICEF Tajikistan (August 2015 – November 2015)
• Education Specialist (surge support), UNICEF Central African Republic (August 2014 – November 2014)
• Teacher (volunteer), Usagara Secondary School & Changa Primary School, Tanga, Tanzania (March 2014 – July 2015)
• Collaborator (volunteer), R&N Peace Foundation, Tanga, Tanzania (January 2014 – July 2015)
• Education Specialist/ GPE Project Manager, UNICEF Guinea (January 2011 – December 2013)
• Education Officer, UNICEF Burundi (January 2008 – December 2010)
• Education Cluster Liaison Officer (surge support), UNICEF Haiti (June – August 2010)
• Technical Advisor on Community Health, Health and Development Services (HANDS), Kericho & Kisii, Kenya (April 2007- November 2007)
• International Consultant for Integrated Rural Development pilot project, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Dajabón, Dominican Republic (January 2005- December 2006)
• Education Coordinator (volunteer), Centro Puente, Dajabón, Dominican Republic (June 2005- December 2006)
• Project Consultant for Inter-regional Knowledge Exchange, The Japan Program, Integration and Regional Programs Department, IDB, Washington, D.C., USA (June 2001- December 2004)
• Intern, The International Rescue Committee, San Jose, California, USA (June 2000 – December 2000)

Publications：

• Shimizu, I. (2011). Community dialogue: Mobilizing community leaders to bring hard-to-reach children to schools. In Sharpening the equity focus: Selected innovations and lessons learned from UNICEF-assisted programmes 2009–2010. UNICEF.
• Shimizu, I. (2009). Repatriated children – Intensive language programme: Burundi. In Child-friendly school: Emerging good practices in Eastern and Southern Africa – A human rights-based approach. UNICEF.
• Shimizu, I. (2007). Introducing a maternal child health handbook in the province of Dajabón, the Dominican Republic: Prospects and issues from the perspectives of sustainability and replicability. Journal of International Health, 22(3). Japan Association of International Health.
• Shimizu, I. (2005). Moving beyond conflict: Education and social reconstruction in Latin America and Asia. In E. Vargas-Baron & H. Bernal-Alarcón (Eds.), From bullets to blackboards: Education for peace in Latin America and Asia (pp. 267–273). Inter-American Development Bank.
• Shimizu, I. & Emig, A. (2002). The challenge of Japanese education: From uniform arrangements to diversity. In C. de Moura Castro & A. Verdisco (Eds.), Making education work: Latin American ideas and Asian results (pp. 83–103). Inter-American Development Bank.

MA Thesis:

• Shimizu, I. “International Cooperation in Refugee Education”. Master’s thesis, Stanford University, 2000.

Academic Associations：

• Comparative & International Education Society (CIES)

Academic Conference Presentation：

• N/A

Language/ Skills：

• Japanese, English, Spanish, French
• SPSS, Microsoft (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Awards：

• Scholarship from Ito Foundation for International Educational Exchange, Japan (July 1999- December 2000)
• Peace-Friendship-Cultural Exchange Scholarship, Ministry of Education, Japan (September 1997- June 1998)
• Distinguished Visiting Scholar Award; Dean’s Honors List, University of California, Los Angeles, International Development Studies (June 1998)

Message to Potential Candidates to Ogawa Seminar：

Returning to doctoral study 25 years after completing my master’s degree is a step that feels both purposeful and long‑awaited. Throughout my career with UNICEF, IDB and NGOs, I have been driven by a desire to bridge the gap between research and practice in international education cooperation. I hope to strengthen my research skills to contribute to evidence uptake to inform policies and programmes on the ground. I have also grown increasingly interested in teaching, having enjoyed guest lectures at universities such as Stanford, Toronto, Maryland, Kobe, and Tokyo. GSICS’s professional orientation, interdisciplinary approach, global perspective, and diverse student community – together with the opportunity to conduct my research under the guidance of Professor Ogawa – make it an ideal environment for this next stage of my academic and professional journey.